I thought it was April ...?

Mother nature, however, didn't get the memo.
This is what it looked like last night around 7pm at my place.

To give you an idea of how snowy it was

(in case you couldn't tell yet)

Here is what it looked like yesterday:

And Today:

Crazy, right? I don't know if these April Showers will be encouraging any May Flowers to poke through the ground any time soon...

Elsie P

PS - I should have taken some photos of the accumulation, which, I am happy to say, has dwindled SIGNIFICANTLY since last night....

The only thing that would have made this better would be if I'd seen it on Monday.

Somedays you're the windshield...

...today I was the bug.

Today was one of those days that started out seemingly great.
My pants felt a little looser
I slept in a little
I made it to work on time
It was a sunshiney warm day.
Today was one of those days that ended up with me at home
in my underwear
wanting to alternately cram handfuls of cake
and cream cheese icing in to my mouth.
Sounds awesome, right? Wrong.
I swear, we all have those days when we feel a little under-appreciated where we are.
Don't get me wrong, I love my job, I love my boss, I love the guys I work with.
But there are some days...
(usually between day 8-18 depending on who you are)
When you just want to cry.
And you don't want to hear how bad other folks have it.
Or how thankful you should be that this-n-this isn't happening to you.
And you really don't have it that hard.
You just want to wallow in self-pity for ONCE!

I work in administration.
It can be a thankless job.
Where careless people leave their own tasks to the last minute
and ask you to complete them for them.
Even when you have your own work to do.
And they took the day off.
Or planned (and I used that word loosely) everything at the last minute.
And F#@&!D it up.
And want you to make it work.
I'm not Tim Gunn. I don't want to hear that phrase outside of the work room.
Or Mood.
I digress, however.
Long and short of this story is this: There was a business trip.
It had been laid out a month prior.
Hotel rooms were not booked
Until 4:30 Friday (3 hours before planes were leaving)
When I got called to book them.
It was 4:30 on a Friday.
A Friday that I could have left early
Which never happens.
Ever.
But this was one of those days.
But I didn't get to leave early
I had hotels to book.
Fine, I get it, you all say this is my job.
Well, if it's my job, give me the full opportunity to book your shit.
I would've had this booked 3-4 weeks ago.
When the flights were booked.

I wound up venting a little when someone touched a nerve today.
I would up in tears after/during venting.
I felt silly because I am a girl.
A girl who is ovulating.
And no one gets it.

So I came home and decided I had three options:

1. Buy a bottle of wine
(I liked this option best, but, upon arriving at the liquor store, which is on my way home, I realized my debit card was in my jacket I wore out on Friday night. Fail. Epic Fail, 'cause wine cures everything)

2. Go for a run and do situps until I feel less angry
(this too is a great option because it is double-productive. Operation HB gets some wings, I blow off some steam and feel better...not as good as wine would make me feel, but close)

3. Blog it out.
(Clearly, this option has been selected. Thank-you readers, if you are plural, for paying attention to me vent)

Elsie P

PS - I have actually decided to incorporate all three of these. I am squeezing my two-sizes-too-big ass in to a pair of two-sizes-too-small yoga pants and am heading out for a run. With Debit Card in hand. I figure if I loop around, I can hit the liquor store on the way back. WIN!

Ice Ice baby

In my old house, we had a little problem when it hit minus 40

THIS is my favorite one. If you don't know what it is, you might not be able to guess at first glance.

The best is the peephole:

It's impossible to see out of. Not to mention the eye-freeze that happens when you put your eye up to it...

Elsie P

PS - at least in my new place, the peephole won't freeze!!

Valentine's Day (Catch up post 4)

I love baking. I love making something with  my own two hands.

I especially love watching people enjoy what I've made.

So, any occasion (read: Excuse) I can find to bake

I take advantage. 

This was Valentine's Day.

I started by making chocolate pound cake baked in two round pans.

Then, I printed out a heart shape and placed it on top of my cake.

I cut around the stencil and made two hearts.

Next, I put a layer of Chocolate Ganache on top of one cake

Next, I covered the ganache with fresh strawberries

Then I placed the second cake on top of the first. 

I whipped up a batch of pink buttercream icing and iced the cake

I wish that I had had some fondant to cover the chocolate crumbs on the buttercream!!

Elsie P

PS - if I was going to do this over, I would have made a half recipe of the chocolate pound cake, cut each layer in half  to  make the cake half as tall. It was a lot of cake, though it was delish!!

Catch up time! (post 3)

Over my birthday, I stayed the week at my Mum and Dad's house 'cause my Dad was away. 

It was the middle of January and we had some wicked fog. 

There is a pond in the backyard.

This is what it looks like normally:

Here's what it looked like on the foggy day:

That was some thick fog. 

That's looking across the street. 

The moisture in the air did some neat things:

Cool, huh?

Elsie P

PS - Thank goodness that's all gone!!

Bookshelf

Well, I noticed how one sided the bookshelf looked. 

So I shuffled things around: 

I want to get some flowers for the middle of the shelf

Whaddya think?

Elsie P

PS - I have a terrible feeling I will be changing this around on a day-to-day basis...

What I don't miss:

Cleaning up messes like this. 

They just don't happen.

Catch up time! (post 2)

I just wanted to share this super-cutie I got from my ex's mother. 

He's an oven mitt! Notice the red hair?

And the tartan?!

Seriously, how adorable??

Elsie P

PS - he's now watching over my kitchen from his post above my stove!

Catch up time! (post 1)

So, there has been a lot going on in the life of Elsie P these past few weeks and, as you may have noticed, the blog posts have been fewer and further between. I have been writing, I promise, and taking photos. I just haven't been able to get them posted!! Therefore, today has been proclaimed "Catch up day" and I will post several of these gems for you to read!!

Where to begin?
Let's start with the move, as that's the biggest thing that's happened in the past month.
It was a little sad, leaving my house. I was excited to take on a new chapter in my life and close the book on some really tough, unhappy times. Starting over, though, even when you really really really want to, and you know it's the right thing to do, it's still not easy.

The best part about having a deadline and a lot of stuff to do is the list-making.
I love love love making lists. I don't know why. I get a serious satisfaction at thinking about everything I have to do, writing it all out and then crossing it off, one item at a time, until it's all complete.

Packing up was fun, it was the first step in the "this-is-really-happening" stage.

The other neat part about packing up is thinking about your stuff -- in this case my bedroom -- going from how it looks in one place to looking just the same in another place! Here was how the packing sort of started. Note the boxes already packed at the foot of the bed and the bedside table devoid of drawers. I love the light coming in from the window in this photo. My old bedroom had wonderful light in the mornings. I will miss it.

Here's a little someone you may recognize. There she is, all packed up and ready to get going and started on her new adventure. You can also see that I was very "green" with this move. How? Well, I used my scarves to wrap up delicate items in the bedroom; flower vases, candle holders, etc were wrapped up in pink, green, red and purple scarves that I wear on a day to day basis. I also re-used apple boxes from the grocery store to compliment the tupperware I already had packed.

And then she was ready to go!

Elsie P

PS - There is one thing I will miss when I leave, more than anything. My walk in closet. :(

Lookie here!

Part of moving in to a new place means setting up new furniture.

Which is what I did today.

I had a vision of what I wanted my front room to look like. 

Slowly, but surely, I am getting it there. 

Here is what we started with. Blank-ish space.

Here are the players. Can you guess what I'm making?

Anyone recognize this?

Here is a more blatant hint.

The directions said not to do this on your own.

I think.

There was a picture of a man, all alone with a big X through it.

Then there was a picture of two men - one with a hat on so we didn't all think that we were supposed to try and clone ourselves, I think - and they both were smiling.

I managed to get to this stage, with the screw driver, and realized I'd put on a piece incorrectly.

Whoops. THen I had to pull it apart and reverse it, while still trying to follow the instructions. 

I figured it out. 

THis is the first time I have ever had to use a hammer, nails and a screw driver to complete a piece of IKEA furniture. I feel that they are moving in a positive direction. 

And here's the final product! Pretty neat, huh? I made the shelves a different heights on purpose, FYI

Ta-da! Doesn't that look nice!! The back of it photographs a little oddly but other than that, I'm happy with it! I just need to find a new home fro that screen...hmmm....

Elsie P

PS - I only suffered one injury ... I somehow sliced the top of my middle finger and didn't realize until I saw the blood on the bookshelf. Imagine my string of profane words and my utter disgust when I incorrectly assumed some careless Swede had sent me a piece of their DNA along with my new bookshelf!!

Can you guess what I'm making?

Here are the ingredients

Not sure? How about this:

Still can't guess?? Okay fine, I'll tell you

Red Velvet Cake. Yum! 

And here's the recipe:

Sift together 2.5 cups of flour, 2Tbs Cocoa, 1/2 tsp salt. It will look like this:

Next, beat 1/2 cup butter until soft. Beat in 1.5 cups of white sugar. 

(or if you're like me, and forget and only add 1/2 cup I'm writing this while it's baking, we'll see how it tastes...!)

Now add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Scrape the sides down and add 1 tsp vanilla extract.

In a measuring cup, whisk together 2 Tbs red food coloring with 1 cup buttermilk 

Add the half the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Add all the buttermilk, then add remaining flour mixture.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 tsp vinegar with 1 tsp baking soda. Allow to fizz and then quickly fold in to batter. Pour in to baking vessel and bake for 20 mins at 350 degrees F 

or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Elsie P

PS - If I was going to make this recipe again, which I will, I would double the cocoa, add the food coloring with eggs and vanilla. I liked the taste the reduced sugar gave, so in doubling the cocoa, I would likely bump the sugar up to 3/4 cup.